SF condemns attack on former prisoner

Police are investigating a reported gun attack on a former republican prisoner in Ballycastle, Co Antrim.

Police are investigating a reported gun attack on a former republican prisoner in Ballycastle, Co Antrim.

The man was driving home at 10.30 p.m. when a shot was fired at his van. He escaped injury.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman said an examination of the van had revealed evidence of a bullet hole.

Sinn Féin said the man who was attacked was a fomer republican prisoner, and the shooting had all the signs of a loyalist sectarian murder attempt.

Mr Phillip McGuigan, a North Antrim councillor, said the man had been warned three times in recent weeks by police, who visited to tell him he was being targeted.

Meanwhile an 18-year-old man was shot in both legs in Belfast last night.

He was attacked in the Mount Vernon area at around 11.30 pm and is now recovering in hospital.

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Kilian Doyle

Kilian Doyle

Kilian Doyle is an Assistant News Editor at The Irish Times